Display package

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a display and distribution packaging unit for fragile articles, especially for eggs, comprising a bottom part ( 2 ) which at least partially matches the outer contours of the articles housed within the unit and a cover part ( 3 ) comprising planar top- and side surfaces ( 10, 14, 15 ) for the provision of graphical information about the contents of the unit, where portions of the cover part ( 8 ) are furthermore shaped to reflect the shape of the eggs housed within the display and distribution package. The structure of the bottom and cover parts furthermore adds mechanical strength to the unit.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a display and distribution packagingunit for eggs or similar fragile articles and of the kind set forth inclaim 1.

DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART

Packages for packing and transporting fragile articles such as eggs areknown in a variety of forms. Traditionally, such packages have compriseda bottom part provided with suitably shaped compartments foraccommodation of the particular article, for instance eggs, and an upperpart forming a cover over the bottom part for accommodating the upperportions of the articles housed within the package and for closing thepackage. Often, the upper part is connected to the lower part by meansof a suitable hinge portion, although packages comprising separatebottom and upper parts have also been used. In those packages thatcomprise a hingedly connected bottom and cover part, the vertical frontside of the bottom part is often provided with a flexible flapcomprising a number of protrusions for engagement with correspondinglylocated and shaped holes in the cover part, thereby locking the bottomand cover parts together in the closed state of the package. A packageof this kind suffers from various disadvantages. In the closed position,the front face of the package will be subdivided into an upper part anda lower part and as the lower part is typically formed to be able toaccommodate and support the articles contained within the package, it isonly the upper part which can be given a planar shape that permits theapplication of text and pictures describing the contents of the package.In use in a store, such packages will often be stacked in a sales rack,and hence it is only the vertical front side, which is visible to thecustomer. Furthermore, the presence of said holes in the cover part alsoreduces the possibility to use this face for written and pictorialinformation. It has furthermore been found that the opening of suchpackages is often troublesome, as it requires the user to press saidprotrusions into the holes to disengage the protrusions and thecorresponding holes from each other.

A package for eggs of the type comprising a hingedly connected bottomand cover part is disclosed in WO 00/03936. In order to solve theproblem of providing a sufficiently large, planar front face for theapplication of graphical material, the front surface of the cover partextends completely down to the lowermost portion of the bottom part, sothat it can rest on the surface supporting the package. Hence, a largeunbroken front surface is provided and the extension of the frontsurface to the supporting surface furthermore adds stability to thepackage and is beneficial during the moulding process of the package.

Apart from providing large unbroken surfaces for the application ofvarious graphical descriptions of the content of the package, theinformation about the content of the package can also as an alternativeor supplementarily be conveyed by the shape of the package or variousparts hereof. A package of this type is the subject of EP 0 698565,which discloses a package comprising a separate packaging unit embracingthe articles in an accommodating and supporting manner and where theouter shape of the packaging unit reflects the shape of the eggscontained within the unit. This package is typically provided with anumber, for instance six, of egg-shaped compartments and the package isfurthermore provided with a display panel comprising suitably sizedopenings corresponding to the pattern of compartments of the packagingunit, such that the display panel can be placed on top of thecompartments in such a manner that the compartments can protrude atleast partly through said openings. This package thus comprises twoseparate parts, i.e. the packaging unit as such and the display panel,which may under circumstances be regarded as a disadvantage from ahandling point of view.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

It is the object of the present invention to provide a package unit foreggs or similar fragile articles, which in spite of the package unitbeing made of an opaque material, preferably moulded pulp, due to itsform provides a clear, visible information about the contents of theunit and at the same time offers good opportunities for providinggraphical and/or pictorial information on large surfaces of the unit.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a packagingunit which is more easy to open and close compared to traditionalpackages of the type described initially comprising a hingedly connectedbottom and cover part.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a packaging unitwhich is at least partly of a mechanically strong shell structure thatprotects the article contained herein, supports these articles over alarge surface of these and generally adds mechanical stability to thepackage.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a packaging unitwhich can be produced as one integrated unit for instance by suctionmoulding.

These and other objects and advantages are attained with a packagingunit according to claim 1. Various advantageous embodiments are definedin the dependent claims.

The packaging unit according to the present invention thus comprises abottom part provided with one or more compartments for accommodating andsupporting the eggs in the packaging unit and a cover part, where one ormore portions of the cover part are shaped such that they reflect theshape of the eggs contained within the packaging unit, thereby makingthe shape of the eggs contained within the unit visible from outside. Byshaping portions of the cover part in this manner the contents of thepackaging unit becomes more apparent than in prior art packaging units,not only when the packaging unit is seen from the side—where both thebottom part and the cover part can be seen—but also when seen fromabove, in which case the bottom part may be more or less invisible tothe viewer.

According to the invention, said cover part and said bottom part can bemoulded as one integrated unit by suction moulding.

It should be noted that throughout this description and the appendedclaims the expression: a portion reflecting the shape of the eggs shouldbe understood as a portion having a shape that provides a viewer with aclear association of the form of an egg without necessarily having aform exactly corresponding to an egg. Thus, surfaces or subsurfaces of anumber of different solids of revolution, for instance of an ellipsoid,may reflect the shape of an egg within this context.

Providing not only the cover part with portions reflecting the shape ofthe eggs in the unit but also shaping the corresponding portions of thebottom part such that they reflect the shape of the eggs furtherenhances the visual information about the content of the unit. Theindividual portions of the cover part and the corresponding portions ofthe bottom part may in the closed state of the unit merge into asubstantially continuous surface reflecting a relatively large portionof the surface of an egg.

According to the invention, said portions of the cover part reflectingthe shape of the eggs and the corresponding portions of the bottom partform compartments for the eggs in the unit, the internal surface ofwhich compartments may also be shaped in a manner corresponding to theegg-shape. Thus, at least some of these compartments embrace and supportthe eggs over a surface area of up to at least approximately 60% of thetotal surface area of an egg. The eggs are thus supported in a mannerwhich reduces the risk of damages of the eggs caused by theaccelerations experienced for instance during vibrations of the unit andif the unit is accidentally dropped. Specifically said compartments canalso be formed to support the eggs at the bottom portion of thecompartments.

A further enhancement of the information about the contents of thepackaging unit provided by the portions of the cover part reflecting theshape of the eggs within the packaging unit can according to theinvention be obtained by providing a clear subdivision of the cover partinto those portions reflecting the shape of the eggs and the remainingportions of the cover part. According to the specific embodiments of theinvention described in detail in the following, the portions reflectingthe shape of the eggs are thus formed as egg-shaped continuous surfacescovering approximately a quarter of the total surface of an egg, whereasthe remaining portion of the cover part—designed with the aim ofproviding large substantially planar areas for the application ofvarious kinds of graphical and/or pictorial information—resembles a boxcomprising a substantially planar top surface, a front surface, a rearsurface and substantially planar end surfaces. The egg-shaped portionsare according to this embodiment of the invention located on either endsurface of the cover part, thereby yielding a visually clear divisionbetween the substantially planar end surfaces and the smoothly curvedegg-shaped portions. A placement of the egg-shaped portions on only oneof said end surfaces would of cause also be possible.

As an alternative embodiment, it would furthermore be possible to placethe egg-shaped portions on one or more of the remaining surfaces of thecover part, thereby further highlighting the contents of the packagingunit.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the display anddistribution packaging unit is characterised in that said cover part onthe portion hereof, which is formed to reflect the shape of the eggs inthe package, has a different surface structure from remaining portionsof the cover part. For instance the portion reflecting the shape of theeggs may have a relatively coarse surface texture, whereas thoseportions upon which graphical information is to be provided, forinstance using adhesive labels, could have a more smooth texture or viceversa. By providing those portions of the cover part, which reflect thecontent of the unit, with a surface structure differing from the surfacestructure of the remaining portions of the cover part, the content ofthe packaging unit is made even more apparent as seen from outside, forinstance for a customer in a store.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the display anddistribution packaging unit is characterised in that the interfacebetween said cover part and said bottom part inclines downwardly fromthe rear side of the package to the front side of the package, thusyielding a higher front side of the cover part than rear side of thecover part, the higher front side thereby providing more space for theattachment of labels, etc. On opening the cover part of the filledpackaging unit a larger part of the eggs contained in the unit thusbecomes visible from the front side of the unit, which is normally theside of the unit facing the customer in a store. This provides for abetter opportunity to inspect the eggs in the unit, for instance forpossible damages hereof and has the further effect that the eggs in theunit appear larger.

In order to provide a better grip of the edge portion of the cover partfor opening the unit—and also in order to further increase the area ofthe front surface of the cover part and hence the possibility to attachlabels etc. to this portion of the cover part—the lower edge of thefront surface may according to the invention be extended in a downwardsdirection past the interface between the cover part and the bottom part.

According to the invention, said bottom and cover parts are hingedlyconnected to each other along one edge hereof, the opposite upper edgeof the bottom part being provided with a flexible flap comprising atleast one outwardly extending protrusion for engagement with acorresponding opening in the cover part.

According to one embodiment of the invention, said one or moreprotrusion has/have a cross-section in a plane parallel with the frontsurface of the unit, which substantially corresponds to a longitudinalcross-section through an egg. The protrusions preferably have an overallsize sufficiently large to facilitate depression of the protrusion onopening the unit and the outer surface of the protrusions—which can forinstance be plane—can either be flush with the outer surface of thecorresponding portion of the cover part or extend outwardly beyond thissurface over the entire circumference of the protrusion or part hereof.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, said protrusionsand corresponding openings are shaped to form a tight engagement betweenthe protrusion and the corresponding opening around the entirecircumference of the protrusion, but shapes of openings andcorresponding protrusions only providing engagement over a portion ofthe circumference of the protrusion may also be used.

As apparent from the above, large portions of the substantially planarsurfaces of the cover part of the packaging unit according to theinvention can be provided with graphical and/or pictorial information.Thus, it is even possible to apply such information to the outer surfaceof the protrusions. Graphical and/or pictorial information may generallybe provided in the form of labels or alternatively embossing may providea three-dimensional surface. This alternative could for instance by usedon the outer surface of the protrusions.

According to the invention, the external bottom surface of the bottompart of the unit is provided with a pattern of supporting ribs formedbetween the base portions of the compartments. Both the curved wallportions of the compartments and the pattern of supporting ribs provideincreased mechanical stability of the packaging unit. Furthermore, thesupporting ribs and the base portions define a common, plane bottomsurface for placement of the packaging unit, thus for instance yieldinga more stable placement of units, when these are placed on top of eachother. To attain this, it is important that the bottom surface definedby the base portions of the compartments and the supporting ribs definea plane surface and not a surface, which is slightly downwardly curvedtowards the central portion of the surface. As an alternativeembodiment, the central portions of this pattern of bases ofcompartments and supporting ribs could be located slightly above theplane defined by the peripheral portions of the bases and supportingribs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which

FIG. 1 is a schematical perspective view of one embodiment of apackaging unit according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top and bottom view of the above embodiment of a packagingunit according to the invention;

FIGS. 3 a to 3 e show various embodiments of the packaging unitaccording to the invention;

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the packaging unit according to theinvention in an open state;

FIG. 5 shows the embodiment of FIG. 4 in the closed state; and

FIG. 6 shows a cross-section through the bottom part of the unit witheggs inserted in compartments hereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following, the packaging unit according to the invention isdescribed in detail by means of various non-limiting examples of itspractical design.

With reference to FIG. 1, there is shown a display and distributionpackaging unit according to the invention generally designated by 1formed to accommodate six eggs. The unit comprises a bottom part 2 and acover part 3 connected to each other along one edge by means of aflexible connection 12, in the following generally referred to as ahinge. Portions 8 of the cover part 3 reflect the shape of the eggscontained within the unit. The complete unit can be formed as oneintegrated unit made of moulded pulp.

The bottom part shown in FIG. 1 is subdivided into six compartments 4 byappropriately shaping the wall sections of the bottom part and byinclusion of a pair of upwardly extending pillar posts 5 along thecentre line of the bottom part. The shape of the side wall forming partof the compartments 4 may correspond to the shape of the eggs containedin the compartments, thereby providing a good support for the eggs andvisual information about the content of the packaging unit.

Placed along one upper edge portion of the bottom part 2, there isprovided a flexible flap 6, on the outer surface of which there isprovided an outwardly extending protrusion 7. In the embodiment shown inFIG. 1, only one protrusion 7 is present, but it is understood that morethan one protrusion could be provided if desirable.

According to one embodiment of the invention, portions 6′ of the flap 6may be formed in such a manner that they constitute a part of the wallsof the adjacent compartments of the unit. This embodiment is shown indetail in FIG. 4.

The cover part 3 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 comprisesessentially two different portions, i.e. a central portion, the shape ofwhich to some extent resembles the shape of a box and comprising asubstantially planar top face 10, substantially planar front and rearfaces 14, 15 and substantially planar end faces 20 (see for instanceFIG. 3 a ff.). The front face Is provided with an aperture 9, theposition, shape and size of which corresponds to the protrusion 7 on theflexible flap 6 of the bottom part 2. The front face 14 being flexiblemakes it is possible to close the cover part 3, whereby the protrusion 7will be brought into engagement with the aperture 9. Pulling along theedge portion of the front face 14, it is possible to bring theprotrusion 7 out of engagement with the aperture 9, whereupon thepackaging unit can be opened.

The combination of the downwardly curved shape of the front face 14—asindicated by 17 in the Figures—and the relatively large protrusions makeit easy for the user to open the unit. Furthermore, the protrusions arestyled to suggest the contents of the unit, i.e. they are approximatelyegg-shaped. If desired, the outer substantially planar face of theprotrusion may even be provided with text or pictures, such as the text:“press to open” or the like. As mentioned above, instead of providingthe planar face of the protrusions with a label, embossing may provide athree-dimensional surface hereof.

Regarding the size of the protrusions, at least one pertinentrequirement would be that the planar face hereof should be of a sizefacilitating the opening of the unit, as this would normally take placeduring use. The size of the planar face should based on this requirementnot be less than that of an average fingertip of a thumb, which wouldamount to approximately 2 cm in the vertical direction of the protrusionand somewhat larger in the longitudinal direction of the protrusion, inorder to preserve the egg-shape of the planar face. Typical dimensionswould be within the range (20 mm to 30 mm)×(15 mm to 20 mm), typicallyapproximately 16 mm×24 mm, although other dimensions may of course alsobe employed. For aesthetical reasons it may also be desirable to makethe choice of the size of the protrusions dependent on the otherdimensions of the unit, particularly on the dimension of the planarfront surface 14 of the cover part.

The second portion of the cover part 3 comprises the egg-shapedcompartment walls 8 located at either longitudinal end of the cover part3. These compartment walls 8 provide additional support for the eggscontained within these compartments and reflects the shape of the eggsthereby providing a visual indication of the content of the packagingunit. To highlight the visual information—and provide a pleasingaesthetic effect—it is possible to provide the compartment walls 8 witha different surface texture than the planar surfaces 10, 14, 15 and 20,where the first three of these surfaces for instance can be used for theplacement of labels etc. As mentioned in the disclosure of theinvention, the contrast between the curved portions 8 and thesubstantially planar end faces 20 and the distinct line of divisionbetween these contribute to highlight the information about the contentsof the packaging unit.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a top and bottom view of thepackaging unit according to this embodiment of the invention. Theegg-shaped compartment walls 8 are clearly visible on the top view, thusconveying information about the contents of the unit when this is viewedfrom above, i.e. when the corresponding compartment walls of the bottompart can not be seen. On the bottom view, the outer surface of thecompartments 4 is shown together with a pattern of supporting ribs 11formed between the base portions 19 of the compartments 4. Both thecurved wall portions 8 of the compartments 4 and the pattern ofsupporting ribs 11 provide increased mechanical stability of thepackaging unit. Furthermore, the supporting ribs 11 and the baseportions 19 define a common, plane bottom surface for placement of thepackaging unit.

Referring to FIGS. 3 a through 3 e, there are shown various embodimentsof the packaging unit according to the invention. Specifically, FIG. 3 ashows a packaging unit of the same basic form as shown in FIG. 1comprising six compartments 4 for eggs. FIG. 3 b shows an embodimentcomprising three rows each containing three compartments 4, FIG. 3 cshows a unit comprising two rows of five compartments 4 and FIG. 3 dshows a unit comprising three rows of five compartments 4. In FIG. 3 e,there is finally shown a side elevation view of the packaging unit shownin FIG. 3 c. As indicated by reference number 16, the front face 14 ofthe cover part 3 can also be subdivided into two portions 14′ and 14″ ifdesired, each of these portions 14′, 14″ being provided with openings 9for similarly placed protrusions 7 on the bottom part 2 of the unit itis understood that instead of using two openings and correspondingprotrusions as shown in FIGS. 3 d through 3 e, it is also possible touse other numbers of openings and protrusions, as for instance only oneas shown in FIGS. 1 through 3 b.

A number of further important features of the packaging unit accordingto the invention are apparent from FIGS. 3 a through 5.

Referring for instance to the two lower side elevation views of FIG. 3a, the interface 21 between the bottom part 2 and the cover part 3inclines downwardly from the rear face 15 towards the front face 14 ofthe cover part. As mentioned above, the effect of this is at leasttwofold: it increases the area of the front face 14 of the cover part 3,thus increasing the possibility to attach for instance labels etc. tothis and in the open state of the unit, it increases the part of theeggs in the front row of compartments 4, which can be seen on openingthe unit. The interface 21 is shown as slightly curved from the reartowards the front face of the cover part, but other shapes could ofcourse also be envisaged.

Furthermore, the lower portion of the front face 14 of the cover part 3is in this embodiment extended by a flap 14′″ exhibiting a downwardlycurved edge portion 17. By extending the front face 14 with this flap14′″, the frontal area which can be used for graphical and/or pictorialinformation is increased and the presence of the flap 14′″ furthermoremakes the unit easier to open.

As shown in FIG. 6, the internal surface of the compartments 4 is formedto provide support for the eggs 25 housed therein. Thus, the internalsurfaces of the compartments correspond to a portion of the surface ofthe eggs, typically at least 60% of the surface of the eggs housedwithin the compartments. According to the shown embodiment, thecompartments 4 are also provided with support structures 26 for thelower ends of the eggs, thereby providing further support for the eggshoused within the compartments 4.

Although various embodiments of the present invention have been shownand described in the preceding parts of the detailed description, it isunderstood that a person skilled in the art may conceive otherembodiments of the invention without departing from the scope of theinvention as defined by the following claims. Specifically, it isunderstood that any embodiment comprising any number of rows ofcompartments and any number of compartments per row falls within theinvention as defined by the claims.

1. A display and distribution packaging unit for eggs or similar fragilearticles, said unit being made of an opaque material, e.g. moulded pulpand comprising: a bottom part (2) comprising non-planar side surfaces ofcompartments (4) so as to match at least partially the outer contours ofthe eggs contained within said unit; a cover part (3) comprising a topsurface (10) and substantially planar front- and rear surfaces (14, 15);where said cover part (3) comprises portions (8) reflecting the shape ofthe eggs contained within said unit, said portions (8) being located onsubstantially planar end faces (20) of said cover part (3) at either oneor both longitudinal ends of the cover part (3).
 2. A display anddistribution packaging unit according to claim 1, where said portions(8) reflecting the shape of the eggs each comprises substantially aquarter of the total surface area of the corresponding egg.
 3. A displayand distribution packaging unit according to claim 1, where saidsubstantially planar surfaces of the cover part (3) comprising saidportions (8) reflecting the shape of the eggs contained in the unit areone or more of the surfaces comprising said top surface (10), frontsurface (14) and rear surface (15).
 4. A display and distributionpackaging unit according to claim 1, where said portions (8) reflectingthe shape of the eggs are formed as portions of solids of revolutionwith an axis of revolution substantially normal to said top surface (10)of the cover part (3).
 5. A display and distribution packaging unitaccording to claim 1, where said nonplanar side surfaces of the bottompart (3) are shaped as a portion of the surface of an egg.
 6. A displayand distribution packaging unit according to claim 5, where saidnonplanar side surfaces of the bottom part (3) are formed as portions ofsolids of revolution with an axis of revolution substantially coincidingwith said axis of revolution of said portions (8) in the cover part (3).7. A display and distribution packaging unit according to claim 1, wheresaid egg-shaped portions of the cover part (3) continues in saidcorresponding egg-shaped portions of the bottom part (2), thecorresponding portions in the cover part (3) and in the bottom part (2)thereby forming a continuous portion of the surface of an egg.
 8. Adisplay and distribution packaging unit according to claim 1, where saidegg-shaped portions (8) located at one longitudinal end or bothlongitudinal ends of the cover part (3) together with the correspondingegg-shaped portions in the bottom part (2) correspond to a major portionof the surface of an egg.
 9. A display and distribution packaging unitaccording to claim 8, where said major portion of the surface of an eggconstitutes not less than approximately 60% of the total surface of anegg.
 10. A display and distribution packaging unit according to claim 1,where said cover part (3) on those portions (8) hereof which are formedto reflect the eggs in the unit, has a different surface structure thanthe remaining portions of the cover part.
 11. A display and distributionpackaging unit according to claim 10, where said surface structure isrelatively smooth and the surface structure of the remaining surfaces ofthe unit is relatively coarse.
 12. A display and distribution packagingunit according to claim 10, where said surface structure is relativelycoarse and the surface structure of the remaining surfaces of the unitis relatively smooth.
 13. A display and distribution packaging unitaccording to claim 1, where said bottom part (2) on those portionshereof, which are formed to match the contours of the eggs in the unit,has a different surface structure than the remaining portions of thecover part.
 14. A display and distribution packaging unit according toclaim 13, where said surface structure is relatively smooth and thesurface structure of the remaining surfaces of the unit is relativelycoarse.
 15. A display and distribution packaging unit according to claim13, where said surface structure is relatively coarse and the surfacestructure of the remaining surfaces of the unit is relatively smooth.16. A display and distribution packaging unit according to claim 1,where said cover part (3) on the planar front side (14) hereof isprovided with at least one opening (9) for engagement with one or moreprotrusions (7) provided on said bottom part (2).
 17. A display anddistribution packaging unit according to claim 16, where said engagementbetween the one or more protrusions (7) and corresponding openings (9)is a tight engagement around the complete circumference of theprotrusion (7).
 18. A display and distribution packaging unit accordingto claim 16, where the shape of said openings (9) and correspondingprotrusions (7) substantially correspond to a longitudinal cross-sectionthrough an egg.
 19. A display and distribution packaging unit accordingto claim 16, where the outer surface of said protrusions (7) issubstantially planar.
 20. A display and distribution packaging unitaccording to claim 16, where said outer surface of the protrusions (7)is flush with said front surface (14) of the cover part (3).
 21. Adisplay and distribution packaging unit according to claim 16, where thelower edge portion of said protrusions (7) is flush with said frontsurface (14) and where the upper edge portion of said protrusions (7)extends outwardly relative to the front surface (14).
 22. A display anddistribution packaging unit according to claim 1, where said top surface(10) and/or said front surface (14) and/or said rear surface (15) of thecover part (3) is/are provided with graphical and/or pictorialinformation and/or embossing.
 23. A display and distribution packagingunit according to claim 1, where said outer surface of the protrusions(7) is provided with graphical and/or pictorial information and/orembossing.
 24. A display and distribution packaging unit according toclaim 1, where said bottom part (2) and said cover part (3) areconnected to each other by means of a hinge portion (12) extending alongone edge portion of the interface between said bottom and cover parts(2, 3).
 25. A display and distribution packaging unit according to claim1, where the interface between said cover part (3) and said bottom part(2) inclines downwardly from the rear side of the package unit to thefront side hereof, thus yielding a higher front side (14) of the coverpart (3) than rear side (15) of the cover part.
 26. A display anddistribution packaging unit according to claim 25, where said interfaceis curved.
 27. A display and distribution packaging unit according toclaim 1, where the lower edge of said front surface (14) of the coverpart (3) is curved in a downward direction beneath the interface betweensaid cover part (3) and said bottom part (2) for extension of the areaof the front surface (14) and for facilitating opening of the unit. 28.A display and distribution packaging unit according to claim 27, wherethe downward extension of the front surface (14) covers up to the totalheight of the bottom part (2).
 29. A display and distribution packagingunit according to claim 1, where said bottom part (2) on the under side(18) hereof is provided with a pattern of supporting ribs (1 1)connecting base portions (19) of the egg-shaped compartments (4) in thebottom part (2), whereby the mechanical strength of the unit isincreased.
 30. A display and distribution packaging unit according toclaim 29, where said base portions (18) and said supporting ribs (19)define a substantially planar surface for placement of the unit.
 31. Adisplay and distribution packaging unit according to claim 29, wheresaid base portions (18) and said supporting ribs (19) define a surfacefor placement of the unit, the central portions of which surface areelevated with respect to the peripheral portions hereof.
 32. A displayand distribution packaging unit according to claim 1, where said one ormore protrusions (7) are provided on a flexible flap (6) placed alongone upper edge portion of the bottom part (2).
 33. A display anddistribution packaging unit according to claim 32, where portions ofsaid flexible flap (6) are formed such that they constitute a part ofthe walls of adjacent compartments (4).
 34. A display and distributionpackaging unit according to claim 18, where the size of said planar faceof the protrusions approximately corresponds to the size of thefingertip of a thumb.
 35. A display and distribution packaging unitaccording to claim 18, where the size of said planar face of theprotrusions is within the range (20 mm to 30 mm)×(15 mm to 20 mm).
 36. Adisplay and distribution packaging unit according to claim 1, where saidunit is formed as one integrated unit in one material.
 37. A display anddistribution packaging unit according to claim 1, where saidcompartments (4) of the bottom part (2) and said corresponding portions(8) of the cover part (3) reflecting the shape of the eggs in the unitdefine internal surfaces in the unit, which surfaces correspond to aportion of the total surface of an egg.
 38. A display and distributionpackaging unit according to claim 37, where said internal surfaces inthe unit correspond to at least 60% of the surface of an egg.
 39. Adisplay and distribution packaging unit according to claim 37, wheresaid compartments (4) are furthermore provided with support structures(26) for the ends of the eggs (25) in the compartments.